


War's End

by hilariouslygrounded



Series: Building Family [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, Fix-It, M/M, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin Raise Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 13,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26415694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hilariouslygrounded/pseuds/hilariouslygrounded
Summary: Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts promises to be complicated in the final installment of the Building Family series. Voldemort is back, teenage angst is running high, and there's only one horcrux left (or so Remus thinks).
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Building Family [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1449436
Comments: 17
Kudos: 133





	1. One

This summer felt different than any Remus had experienced as a parent. In fact, it felt rather like the first summer after he and his friends graduated from Hogwarts and joined the Order of the Phoenix. He didn’t ever fully settle, even when he lay down to sleep, because he was constantly jittery from a heady mix of fear and excitement. 

But unlike that long ago summer, Remus and Sirius were now in charge of parenting two teenage boys. It was probably the biggest challenge they'd ever faced, and they'd both fought Voldemort. 

Although the boys were friends, they were clearly quite different people. Draco was generally quiet and helpful aside from the occasional outburst and tendency to gossip. Harry--who, as a child, had always seemed like a little adult--was now prone to moodiness and a temper that erupted at the slightest provocation. 

Remus had a feeling that Harry's transformation was related to his traumatic experience in the tournament, especially since he seemed to be having nightmares most nights. 

"How do we help him, Pads?" 

"I expect he mostly needs time to heal." 

"I think it's more than just that. He needs to talk about it." 

"But he won't talk to us! We wouldn't even know about the nightmares if Draco didn't tell us about them."

"I'm going to write to Petunia. Maybe her husband can recommend someone we can take Harry to." 

Regulus had offered up number twelve Grimmauld Place as a headquarters for the Order to operate out of since it was large and already magically protected. Remus spent several days helping Arthur Weasley, McGonagall, and Alastor--thankfully recovered from his year locked in his own trunk but now twice as paranoid--beef up the magical security and anti-muggle defenses a bit. The most important new defense, of course, was that the building would be placed under a fidelius charm. Dumbledore acted as the secret keeper. 

At the beginning of July, the Order officially took up residence in the aging townhouse. The place that had once been a gloomy bastion of pureblood-supremacy now boasted a motley group of muggleborns, half-bloods, and blood traitors fighting to bring down the system the house had once upheld. 

And, firmly barred from the secret meetings, it also held a raucous bunch of teenagers who were set the task of removing the last traces of evil from the house. Aside from Remus’ little family, the Weasleys and Hermione had also moved in. 

“Why can’t we know what’s going on in the meeting, Remus?” Draco asked one night at dinner. 

“Yeah!” Harry and Ron chimed in. 

“Because it’s adults only. For your own safety.” 

“But we’re adults!” Fred scowled, pointing between himself and George.

“In name only! You’re still at school!” their mother shouted from down the long table.

“Sirius and Remus were seventeen when _they_ joined the Order!”

And on it went. Every time the subject of meetings was brought up near the kids, everyone talked themselves into the same circular arguments. Once, Remus might have supported Fred and George’s argument that they should be allowed to join up. But now, as a parent and their former teacher, he saw how terribly young they were. How young _he_ had been during the last war. 

When he wasn’t conducting Order business or still trying to track down the last elusive horcrux, Remus helped the kids in the final stages of cleaning up the place. Regulus had been living there for a year and a half, and in that time the heavy clearing out of dark magical pests, cursed heirlooms, and faded gloomy wallpaper had been mostly completed, but some things had been trickier to remove. Fred and George were incredibly inventive, however, and their joke products--secretly financed, Remus knew, by Harry’s triwizard winnings--proved effective at shifting a surprising amount of “permanent” curses and sticking charms. 

The test case was Sirius’ childhood bedroom. His charms had been mostly benign, the unorthodox decorations affixed to the walls in perpetuity purely to piss off his parents, so everyone felt safe trying to undo them. After a week of beavering away in the locked guest room they shared, in which time Harry and co. pulled down the remaining wallpaper and polished crested silver, the twins produced a giant purple eraser that made short work of the mid-70s muggle posters. 

Remus was secretly glad to see the posters go. As much as he admired the teenage Sirius’ courage, he preferred sharing a bed with the adult Sirius--who had mildly better taste--and hated the feeling that the posters were watching them. They kept one Gryffindor banner, though, and the photograph of the Marauders circa 1974. 

After proving that the eraser worked, Fred and George duplicated it and set Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny on the house. Regulus occasionally intervened to prevent them from destroying something he actually _wanted_ to keep, but all in all it was a miracle cure. The only wall decoration that still refused to budge was Mrs. Black’s portrait, which Sirius eventually just cut out of the wall with a handsaw. Remus greatly appreciated the irony that muggle technology was the old hag’s downfall. 

Cleaning was not enough of a distraction to keep the kids out of trouble, however. They were constantly underfoot and it was hard to keep ahead of the twins’ efforts to eavesdrop on the Order meetings. So Remus and Sirius took them on occasional trips into muggle London, always heavily disguised. 

Harry, who appeared to be improving somewhat now that he was seeing a therapist once a week, especially seemed to enjoy these outings. He and Hermione had a lot of fun at the natural history and science museums, where they dragged Ron and Draco around to educate them about dinosaurs and the moon landing. 

All non-essential travel out of headquarters by underage wizards crashed to a halt, however, in early August. Remus and Harry were walking home from his therapist's office, which was in a muggle office building a mile or so from Grimmauld Place, one evening when the world went cold. 

The streetlights disappeared. Remus recognized the signs of approaching dementors, but what they were doing in this part of London he did not know. He grabbed Harry's wrist with his left hand and drew his wand with his right. 

"Remus what's going on? I feel so cold." 

"Nothing good. Try to think of something happy." 

"I-I can't. Remus help!" Harry was shaking like a newborn calf.

Remus turned to see two dementors gliding right at Harry. He gathered his wits and tried to focus on a happy memory. He settled on the first time Harry'd ever called him Moony. 

"Expecto patronum!" he yelled. 

A silver wolf burst from his wand and chased the dementors away. The cold dissipated and light returned to the cloudless evening. 

"Are you all right?" he asked Harry. 

"No." Harry was pale and shaky. He looked a bit like he was on the verge of passing out. 

"Let's get you home." 

Upon returning to headquarters, Remus made a huge pot of hot chocolate and sent Harry up to his room with a large mug. He told Sirius about the incident, then went to check on Harry. 

"Are dementors always that scary?" Harry asked when Remus entered the room. 

Remus sat on the edge of Harry's bed. "Pretty much. They feed on your happy memories and bring the awful ones to the surface. I imagine they affect you worse than most kids your age." 

"It was awful. When you told me to think of something happy all I kept seeing was Cedric's face after...after Wormtail killed him." 

Harry shivered. Remus gave him a one armed hug to avoid spilling his cocoa. "That must've been terrifying." 

"Why were they here anyway? I thought they never left Azkaban." 

"I don't know, but it's not a good sign. We'll have to be more careful from now on." 

"You used that spell again. The one you used to send a message to McGonagall second year. You promised to teach me then, but you never did. Can you teach me now?" 

"I can, but not tonight. You won't be able to practice until you get back to Hogwarts, but I can go over the theory with you here."


	2. Two

On the last night of the summer holidays, Remus and Sirius sat Harry and Draco down for what Harry could tell was going to be a serious conversation. 

"I'm sure you two have been wondering what I've been doing these past two years," Remus began. 

Harry glanced at Draco, whose expression screamed "Of course!" and echoed Harry's own feelings on the matter.

"A bit, yeah." 

Sirius frowned at Harry's tone. "What we're about to say doesn't leave this room, okay?" 

"Okay." 

"The entire fight against Voldemort might depend on it." 

Draco's eyes widened and he nodded. Harry remained silent, waiting for the next part. 

"Since I resigned from Hogwarts I've been hunting down extremely dark objects that Voldemort made before his fall. They're called horcruxes." 

"What do they do?" Harry asked. 

"When a person murders someone, a piece of their soul breaks off from the whole. That piece can be stored in a magical container to prevent the person from dying." 

"The dark lord is immortal?" Draco yelped. 

"Not exactly. If the horcrux is destroyed, which is admittedly very difficult to do, then the person can be killed just like anyone else. That's why Remus is looking for them." 

"When you say 'them'-"

"Voldemort made more than one, yes. The diary you destroyed was one of them. So far I've found and destroyed three more." 

"Dumbledore thinks he meant to make 6 so that his soul would be in seven pieces, but that he only managed to make 5 before he fell." 

"But could he still make more now that he's back?" 

Remus and Sirius shared a look that clearly meant they hadn't thought of that. 

"Possibly," Remus admitted. "But right now we need to focus on the last one we think is currently out there. A horcrux can technically be anything, but Voldemort liked to use important items. Especially ones that belonged to the Hogwarts founders.

"We know he used a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin and a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. He didn't get his hands on Gryffindor's sword, but that leaves-"

"Ravenclaw," Draco breathed. "But isn't her diadem lost?" 

"No one has ever reported finding it," Sirius said. "But that doesn't mean it hasn't been found." 

"So where do we come in?" Harry asked. 

"In addition to using important objects, Voldemort also hid several of his horcruxes in places of great significance to his life. Hogwarts fits that description perfectly." 

"Except we've looked in every hiding spot we know about in the castle. And with the new ministry regulations, it's unlikely that we'll be able to conduct any more searches in the near future. You two, however, are about to spend several months in the building and can look around without attracting too much attention." 

"We're not asking for you to do anything that might take away time from your studies," Remus clarified. "Just keep an eye out." He produced a drawing of what the diadem probably looked like. "It's very possible that Dumbledore is wrong, and we'll keep searching for other possibilities in the meantime." 

"And certainly try not to do anything that might get you in trouble with the new defense against the dark arts professor," Sirius warned.

"Why that teacher specifically?" 

"The ministry doesn't trust Dumbledore anymore. They've passed a number of new educational 'reform' decrees. The new DADA teacher works for the minister and I'd bet fifty galleons that she's his spy." 

Harry slept even worse than usual that night. He dreamed about everyone prancing around in ugly tiaras, but whenever he tried to grab one it vanished in a puff of green smoke. 

Eventually, the dream changed into his two recurring nightmares, which progressed as they always did. First, Harry walked down a long hallway towards a door that wouldn't open. Then, just as he was about to place his hand on the doorknob, the door transformed into a large headstone and he was forced to relive his arrival in the graveyard. As always, he woke up screaming as soon as Cedric's body hit the ground. 

As soon as Harry realized he was awake, he tried to calm himself with the breathing exercises his therapist recommended. He wished they would drive away the nightmares in his sleep as well as upon waking, but they did help. 

Since it was five am, Harry decided against trying to go back to sleep. Everyone else would be waking up in less than two hours, so there wasn't really much point. He slipped downstairs to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal and was surprised to see Regulus already sitting there. 

"Bad dream?" his uncle asked. 

Harry nodded. "You too?" 

"The things I see at night would drive even the bravest man half mad with fear. But it is my punishment for turning against my former master, and my reward for trying to do some good in the world." 

Harry had been told very little about his uncle's past, and had never asked about it. "You were a death eater?" 

"I joined the dark lord when I was sixteen. My parents were so proud of me for upholding the family ideals, unlike my blood traitor older brother. But it wasn't long before I realized my mistake. I paid dearly for trying to bring him down, almost with my life." 

"What happened?" 

"My brother told you about horcruxes, yes?" 

Harry nodded. 

"I learned about one through Kreacher, who the dark lord had once borrowed to help hide it, and tried to dispose of it with Kreacher's help. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that Kreacher managed to spirit the horcrux away while I was trapped in the hiding place." 

"How did you get out?" 

"I didn't for many years. But then Remus came looking for the horcrux and I was able to escape with him." 

"Wow." 

Mr. Weasley stumbled into the kitchen at that moment, ending any conversation. Harry didn't have a chance to talk to Regulus again, except for a quick goodbye, because he was caught in the flurry of last minute packing.


	3. Three

"Detention already? He's only been in class one day!" Sirius shook his head and tossed a letter from McGonagall across the table. 

Remus picked it up and scanned it. "Harry shouted at a _teacher_?" 

"The one teacher we told him not to annoy." 

"What are we supposed to do with that boy?"

Sirius shrugged. "We already tried therapy." 

"Therapy was working quite well until we were attacked by fucking _dementors_. And now he can only see Dr. Greengrass during Hogsmead weekends and holidays." 

"Even Dr. Greengrass can't stop him from standing up for himself. He's too much like James." 

"No, he's too much like Lily." 

A steady stream of letters passed between headquarters and Hogwarts over the next few weeks. McGonagall, as Harry's head of house and unofficial minder, kept Sirius and Remus informed about his grades and ever-growing list of detentions. 

Harry's letters usually included rants about his unfair treatment, including a worrying reference to painful detentions that didn't line up with his supposedly being set lines. He also described Ron's dismal performance as Oliver Wood's replacement on the Gryffindor quidditch team, the utter failure of Professor Umbridge to teach anything of value, and his successful attempts to produce a corporeal patronus. 

“His patronus is a stag, Pads.” 

“Of course it is.” Sirius’ voice shook with emotion. 

Remus pulled him into a hug. “Prongs will always be there to keep his son, _our_ son, safe.”

Draco, meanwhile, kept them up to date on all the Hogwarts gossip. He had been made Slytherin prefect, so he had more access to interesting information than ever before. Remus was glad to hear how his former students were doing, though he could've lived without details about their love lives. Unfortunately, most of the student body seemed to believe recent reporting in _The Prophet_ that Harry was deliberately lying about Voldemort for attention.

In late September, Harry sent a letter that appeared to be full of mundane nonsense until a letter from Draco arrived with a hidden code key. The two of them had apparently risked an excursion to the Chamber of Secrets to check for the horcrux. But no dice. Remus responded, using the same code, that he was unsurprised it wasn't there and that they weren't to try something like that again. 

A few weeks later, Harry finally had a Hogsmead weekend. Remus went with Sirius to pick him up and bring him to his appointment with Dr. Greengrass, and then return him to the village at the end of the session. Normally, they would have taken him and Draco to lunch or something, but Harry was insistent on ditching them to meet up with his friends. 

The next day they found out why, courtesy of Mundungus Fletcher who had been in the Hog’s Head inn--in disguise--at the same time as Harry, his friends, and about 30 other students. Sirius was quite proud of Harry for taking matters into his own hands, but Remus had some reservations. 

“What if they’re caught?” 

“Doing what, studying together?” Sirius scoffed. “The ministry can’t punish them for that.”

“They can and you know it. There was an ‘educational decree’ just yesterday about unauthorized student groups. Plus I’m worried that Umbridge is doing something to Harry during those detentions other than simply making him write lines.” 

“You’re always worrying. Let Harry live a little. Those kids need to know how to protect themselves!” 

“I’m serious, Pads,” Remus said, trying to keep his temper from bubbling up to the surface. They were both tired from guard duty the night before. 

“So am I!” Sirius raised his voice. “Harry almost _died_ last spring, and yet the ministry is actively preventing him from learning to defend himself!” 

“Well teaching a bunch of other kids isn’t going to teach _him_ any new defense!” Remus was yelling now, too, but he found he couldn’t stop himself. 

“It’ll let him practice, which is a damn sight better than nothing!” 

“Not to interrupt your domestic,” Arthur Weasley broke in, “but Molly wanted me to tell you it’s lunch time.” 

Remus blushed. “Thanks, Arthur. We’ll be down in a minute.” 

They avoided each other for the rest of the day. Remus hid from Sirius in the library, perusing the late Orion Black’s collection of books on the dark arts. He assumed Sirius was working on his homework. McGonagall had somehow gotten him into an accelerated magical pre-law program despite his late application. 

But by bedtime, Remus was feeling a bit ridiculous. 

“I’m sorry for shouting at you,” he addressed Sirius’ back. “We haven’t argued like that in years. I don’t know what came over me.” 

Sirius slowly rolled over to face him. “I started the shouting. It’s my fault.” 

“I just feel like the whole adult world is letting Harry and the others down by making them teach themselves something as crucial as defensive magic. And I don’t want him to get into any more trouble.” 

“I get that. But if it’s the only way they can learn right now then I say we don’t stop them.” 

“I guess you’re right.” 

“I always am,” Sirius grinned. He gave Remus a searing kiss. Remus pulled him closer under the warmth of the blankets.


	4. Four

Harry greatly appreciated the irony of using the Chamber of Secrets to teach a mixed group of students defense against the dark arts. In fact, Draco was the only Slytherin out of over thirty people. But it was the only hidden place he knew about that was large enough for everyone, and down there they could be as loud as they liked without detection. 

The only way they were likely to be caught, in fact, was if someone noticed a multi-gender crowd converging on a rarely-used girls’ toilet. Stranger things had happened at Hogwarts, it was true, but nobody wanted to take that risk. 

Influenced by Harry’s invisibility cloak, Fred and George found a way to extend the charms on their ‘headless’ hats to cover a person’s entire body. They used the pointed black hats that were an optional part of the school uniform because they would attract less attention than the outlandish hats used for the original joke product. 

The Defense Association’s first official meeting went undiscovered. Harry felt really weird about teaching his peers, especially those who were older than him, but he copied Remus’ teacher voice until he found his own stride. He started with the simplest spell he could think of, _expelliarmus_ , which had saved his life during his duel with Voldemort last June. After two hours, even Neville had managed it at least once. 

Harry was especially happy to see Cho attend the meeting. He still had a huge crush on her, but was afraid to make the first move because he’d witnessed her boyfriend’s death. Plus his own feelings for Cedric were only complicating matters. But the fact that she didn’t hate him was a plus. It meant he had at least a small chance.

The DA meetings, which occurred roughly every second week due to scheduling conflicts and a need to meet on different days to avoid discovery, quickly became Harry’s favourite part of school. His classes, with the exception of the joke that was defense against the dark arts, were becoming incredibly difficult with the teachers’ obsession with preparing them all for their upcoming OWLs. And quidditch had been taken away from him by Umbridge when she misinterpreted a brotherly tussle between him and Draco after Gryffindor narrowly beat Slytherin in the first match of the year. 

Cho cornered Harry after the last DA meeting before winter break. Or, rather, she cried gently in a corner of the chamber until they were the last people left. 

“Are-are you okay?”

She looked up, tear tracks staining her face. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking about Cedric. Wondering if he knew all this stuff, and if it might have helped him st-stay alive.” 

Cautiously, Harry put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he knew most of it. But there wasn’t any time for him to fight back. Just a flash of green light in the darkness and he was on the ground.” 

He felt a bit teary himself, now, but suppressed it. Cho gazed into his eyes with an expression of mixed pain, sympathy, and something else. Then she was kissing him. 

Harry didn’t sleep well that night. At first, his dreams were a confusing blur. One moment he was reliving his kiss with Cho, then Cho turned into Cedric, and suddenly they were in the graveyard again. The killing curse hit Cedric mid-kiss. The part of Harry that realized he was dreaming thought he was definitely going to have to unpack that in his next session with Dr. Greengrass. 

But then the dream changed again. It was the same corridor as his now almost nightly dream, but from a different perspective. Harry was gliding along on his stomach, and the colours were different. A man sat slumped against the door, asleep. Harry felt the sudden urge to bite him, and did so, striking again and again. 

He woke, screaming, while Ron shook him. 

“Harry. Harry! Are you all right?” 

“No.” Harry threw up, just barely missing Ron’s shoes. “Your dad’s been attacked. By a giant snake. We need to help him!” 

“ _What_?” 

“I’m getting McGonagall,” Neville cried, running from the room. He returned with her a moment later. 

Harry did his best to explain as quickly as he could, trying to make her understand the gravity of the situation. She ushered Harry and Ron to Dumbledore’s office, where Harry recounted the story again. Dumbledore sent the portraits of two former headmasters to “raise the alarm.” How did he know where Mr. Weasley was? 

Dumbledore questioned him further while they waited for the painted people to return. They brought the news that Mr. Weasley had been found and taken to St. Mungo’s. McGonagall left to wake Ron’s siblings. Dumbledore sent another portrait on to Grimmauld Place to warn Regulus to expect visitors. 

Once the Weasley children were all assembled, Dumbledore briefly explained the situation and created a portkey. They took it to number twelve Grimmauld Place, where they were greeted by a somewhat disheveled Regulus. 

Ginny demanded that Regulus take them directly to St. Mungo’s, but he explained that they couldn’t visit before they were officially informed or else the ministry would ask questions. He tried to send them all to bed, but the Weasleys were having none of it. They sat forlornly at the kitchen table, where Kreacher served them cocoa. 

Mrs. Weasley sent along a patronus message at quarter past one informing them that she was on her way to visit Mr. Weasley and that the kids were to stay put until she arrived at Grimmauld Place. While they waited for her, Harry was once again forced to recount the story, though he altered it slightly to make it sound like he was a spectator rather than the snake. 

Remus and Sirius joined them just as he was finishing his tale. They looked extremely worried, but didn’t try to disturb the vigil occurring in the kitchen. Harry half expected them to make him restart the story _again_ , but thankfully he was spared for the time being. 

Mrs. Weasley finally arrived around ten in the morning. She flatly refused, however, to let anyone visit Mr. Weasley until everyone had had a nap.


	5. Five

Remus fretted about Harry almost as much as everyone was fretting about Mr. Weasley. Harry was silent all day, except when asked a direct question, and seemed to be isolating himself from others as much as possible. He appeared to be extremely reluctant to visit Mr. Weasley in hospital, despite having been the one to save his life. 

When they returned to Grimmauld Place in the evening, Harry disappeared into the room he shared with Ron while everyone else piled into the kitchen for sandwiches. Remus collected Sirius and a plate of sandwiches and followed. 

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Sirius asked as they sat down on either side of their son. 

“I saw Mr. Weasley being attacked by a giant snake! What do you think is wrong!” 

“It’s more than that, though, isn’t it?”

“I _was_ the snake! _I_ attacked Mr. Weasley!” 

Sirius’ eyes were the size of saucers as he shot a look at Remus over Harry’s head. “Harry, that’s not possible. Minerva said you didn’t leave your bed.” 

“Well it’s what happened. I saw the attack from inside the snake’s head! I felt what it felt! Including the need to kill my best friend’s dad!” 

Remus laid a hand on Harry’s shoulder. That Harry didn’t shrug it off was an encouraging sign. “Okay. I believe that’s what you saw. But there must be an explanation other than you turning into a snake and teleporting to the dep--to where he was attacked.” 

“Maybe Voldemort possessed me.” 

“You weren’t possessed.” 

“How do you know?” 

There was a knock at the door. Sirius opened it to reveal Ginny, who carried a plate of brownies. 

“Mum sent these up,” she explained. She set the plate down in front of Harry and then sat on Ron’s bed. “I couldn’t help but overhear something about possession. Thought I might be of service, since I know what it feels like firsthand.” 

“What does it feel like?” Remus asked. 

“Large empty stretches in your memory. Have you been waking up in a place and been unable to recall how you got there?” 

“No.” 

“Then you weren’t possessed.” 

“But-” 

“We’ll keep looking for an explanation, Harry. But in the meantime, let’s not let these brownies go to waste.” 

Harry seemed to perk up a bit after their conversation. Remus scheduled him an emergency appointment with Dr. Greengrass, and that also helped significantly, as did the arrival of Draco and Hermione when break officially began that evening. 

That year was the largest Yule celebration Remus had ever been part of. He regretted that it came at such a high cost, but since Arthur was recovering everyone was full of holiday cheer. In fact, the biggest cloud hanging over their celebrations was the conspicuous lack of Percy, who had yet to reconcile with his parents. He hadn’t even been to visit his injured father. 

Presents, which followed a huge feast jointly produced by Molly and Sirius, had to be a tactful affair. Remus had had to restrain Sirius while shopping to ensure there was no accidental display of tasteless wealth, though he understood Sirius’ impulse to shower everyone with gifts. 

The compromise that emerged was that their family would give everyone one nice present or two, and then they would have their own little present exchange as a family afterwards. Sirius was allowed to spoil Harry and Draco during this second exchange as long as he didn’t go overboard. 

Remus was properly sleepy by the time he, Sirius, and the boys gathered in Sirius’ childhood bedroom for family present time. He suspected the abundance of food and wine and the cozy Weasley sweater--how Molly found time to knit so many personalized sweaters every year he had no idea--were the prime culprits. 

Sirius took charge of handing out the presents. He seemed to have a predetermined order in mind, but Remus couldn’t figure out the objective. That is, until they arrived at the last present. It was small and wrapped in red paper and a gold ribbon. Remus unwrapped it gingerly, revealing a simple black box with a silver hinge. He stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what it could be. 

“Open it!” Draco urged. 

“The suspension is killing us!” Harry added. 

Remus chuckled and popped the box open. Sitting on a small cushion of red satin was a gold ring with a moonstone inset. 

“This is beautiful,” he said, looking up quizzically. 

Sirius gently took the box from his hands and knelt in front of him. Harry clicked his new camera at them. 

“Remus Lyall Lupin, you are my best friend. You’re the first person I think about in the morning and the last person I think about when I go to bed. You sheltered me when you could have turned me in. You helped me build a crazy little family. I’ve loved you since we were kids and I hope you’ll let me keep on loving you for the rest of my life. So how about it, Moony? Will you marry me?” 

Remus felt like he’d taken a stunning spell to the chest. Sirius was crying, and he felt his own tears spill over. “Of course I’ll marry you, you sappy bastard.” 

Sirius stood up and kissed him, their tears mixing on each other’s cheeks. Remus could hear the boys making sounds of disgust in the background, but he didn’t much care. Sirius pulled away and slid the ring onto his left ring finger, where it fit perfectly. Harry snapped another picture. 

They kissed again, causing the boys to leave. Which was fine by Remus. He was consumed with love for this ridiculous, dramatic, wonderful man to whom he was now _engaged_. Never in his life did he think he’d actually be engaged to someone. 

Then a thought occurred to him. “Pads, don’t get me wrong I’m super thrilled that you proposed to me, but how are we actually going to get married?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, we’re two men. The wizarding world might allow us to be public about our relationship, but _marriage_ -” 

“Ah, but you’re forgetting that you’re engaged to an expert in wizarding law. It’s totally legal for us to get married.” 

“But if it was legal wouldn’t there be others?” 

“Not if nobody else knew it was legal.” 

“Now you’ve really lost me.” 

“Gay marriage was outlawed shortly after the statute of secrecy was passed, in part because anything that stuck out as non-muggle, in this case also meaning non-Christian, was likely to get wizards discovered. But this particular law, unlike the statute of secrecy, had to be renewed every century or so. Which it was, until the Wizegamot quietly let it expire last year without telling anyone. Making it perfectly legal for two wizards, or two witches, to get married if they so choose.” 

“You never cease to amaze me,” Remus laughed fondly, going in for another kiss. 

“Does this mean you’ll marry me?” 

“I already said yes, didn’t I?” 

“Just checking.”


	6. Six

There was an almighty row the morning that break ended. Regulus wanted to help escort the kids to the train station, but Sirius shouted him down. 

"Why can't Uncle Regulus go outside?" Harry asked Remus as they walked to King's Cross. 

"We don't know if the death eaters know he betrayed them. It's better that they think he's dead." 

"Oh." It was a sobering thought. Poor Regulus had been cooped up since the last war. 

Harry glanced back in the direction of his uncle's house. An orange cat appeared to be following them. 

Back at Hogwarts, Umbridge's tyranny only increased. The only things he looked forward to now were the DA meetings. They gave him purpose and made him feel like he was fighting back. And it didn't hurt that Cho would usually arrange for them to be the last two left and then kiss him. 

The next Hogsmead weekend was on Valentine's day, and Cho was hinting heavily that she wanted him to ask her to go with him. He eventually struck up the courage to ask after much prompting from Draco and Hermione.

Harry met up with Cho in the entrance hall and they walked towards Hogsmead together. He wasn't really sure how any of this was supposed to work, or what to talk about. He caught himself remarking on the weather and resolved to shut up for a bit. 

Cho suggested they go to a coffee shop he didn't recognize. This is where disaster struck. They were surrounded on all sides by couples holding hands or making out and Harry felt intense pressure to do something, but he really wasn't sure how to initiate. And then Cho brought up Cedric. 

Feeling self conscious and confused, Harry accidentally started a whispered argument with her because he didn't want to talk about Cedric on a date. Somehow in the course of that argument he said more than he meant to about his own feelings for Cedric. Then he tried to cover it up by changing the subject. 

"Hey, I'm supposed to meet Hermione at the Three Broomsticks at noon, do you-" 

Big mistake. Cho, who had already started crying when they were arguing about Cedric, loudly accused him of cheating and stormed out of the shop. 

Harry, fully aware that everyone was staring at him, quickly paid and hurried after her. When he couldn't find her, he decided to just go wait for Hermione at the pub. 

He was an hour early, but Hermione was there. She was sitting with Luna Lovegood and _Rita Skeeter_. What? 

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked. 

"Tell you later," he mumbled. "Why did you want me to meet you here?" 

It turned out that Hermione intended to force Rita Skeeter to help him refute the continued bad press about him with the help of the eccentric paper owned by Luna's father. Describing what he saw in the graveyard to the woman who had slandered him the year before was a surreal experience, but since Hermione fact checked Skeeter's notes before allowing her to leave he was hopeful that it might change some opinions. 

On the way back up to the castle, Hermione made him describe his disastrous date with Cho. She was sympathetic, but lay into him about all the ways he could have been nicer to his date. Then Harry remembered what he'd said about Cedric. 

"I need to tell you and the guys something tonight, before any rumours get out." 

"What is it?" 

"Tell you when we're all together." 

Hermione helped him round up Draco, Neville, Dudley, and Ron in an empty classroom where they were unlikely to be disturbed. He was absolutely terrified, even though he knew he had no reason to be scared. 

"So, uh, my date with Cho didn't go so well," he started. 

"Yeah we heard," Draco grinned sympathetically. 

"What went wrong?" Neville asked. 

"Well, she started talking about Cedric and it went downhill from there. But that's kinda why I wanted to talk to you guys. Because while we were talking about Cedric I said something that is guaranteed to cause a shitload of rumours and I don't want you to find out that way." He paused to breathe. 

"Go on," Ron prompted. 

"I'm bi." 

The room erupted with congratulations and questions in about equal measure. Harry admitted that he'd had a huge crush on Cedric and that that was how he found out. 

"What do you want us to say if people ask us about it?" Dudley asked. 

"If we like them and they're asking in good faith then you can tell them I'm bi. But if they seem like they're asking just to gossip then tell them it's none of their business." 

Harry was completely right that rumours would fly. He didn't think Cho was necessarily the one who started them, since anyone in the coffee shop could've done so, but he avoided her all the same. 

His friends shielded him from the worst of it, for which he was grateful. And Rita Skeeter's article quickly eclipsed the news when it appeared the following weekend. Umbridge banned the article, so naturally the entire student body read it. After a while, the only people who seemed to want to talk to him about his sexuality were other queer kids. 

As they were leaving the next DA meeting, Justin Finch-Fletchley came up to him. Ron looked like he was ready to step in, but something made Harry wave his concerned friend away. 

"What's up?" Harry asked. 

"Heard you were into blokes." 

"What of it?" 

Justin blushed and looked around as if to make sure they were alone in the corridor. His hand brushed softly against Harry's. "I am too. You, specifically, as a matter of fact." 

Now Harry was blushing. A nice looking guy was into him? He wished there was somewhere they could hide to talk about this. 

A door appeared in the wall behind them, revealing what looked like a storage room. "Shall we?" 

The room was a mess. Rows of junk piled higher than Harry's head covered the floor. Justin shut the door behind them and led Harry to where they would be obscured by a pile of stuff if someone came in. 

"So, my cards are all on the table," Justin said. "You know I'm gay and that I like you. Should I take your not running away as a sign that you might like me back?" 

Harry was only half listening. He'd just noticed how blue the taller boy's eyes were. They reminded him of the sea. 

"Well?" 

The slight tremor in Justin's voice forced Harry to focus. He nodded. Then, slowly, he tilted his face upwards. Justin took the hint and their lips met. As Harry was closing his eyes, he caught sight of an ancient-looking tiara on the pile of stuff behind Justin.


	7. Seven

"So, two things," Harry said as Remus righted himself after taking a portkey to Dumbledore's office. 

"What's wrong?" Remus asked. McGonagall's summons had been quite vague. 

Harry held up the tiara he was holding. 

"Is that the diadem of Ravenclaw?" 

"I believe it is," Dumbledore confirmed. 

"We'd best get to it then." 

"What're you gonna do with it?" 

"Destroy it. The sword of Gryffindor was imbued with basilisk venom when you used it three years ago and that's one of the few things that kills a horcrux." 

"Can I do it?" 

Remus looked at Dumbledore, who nodded. "I suppose." 

Harry placed the diadem on the headmaster's desk. He picked up the sword and held it a few inches above the horcrux. 

"So I just-" he mimed slicing. 

"Yes." 

Remus watched, heart in his throat, as Harry cleaved the diadem in two. The now too-familiar scream resonated in his bones as the fragment of Voldemort's soul died. Harry dropped the sword in shock. 

"Is it...dead?" 

"It is." Remus gave his son a hug. "Now, what was the other thing?" 

"Oh, um…" Harry glanced at Dumbledore. 

"I sense I am intruding on a private conversation," the headmaster said. "I suddenly find myself overcome by the need for a cup of tea. Back in a moment." 

Once Dumbledore vacated the office, Harry relaxed. 

"Now will you tell me?" 

"I think I have a boyfriend." 

“What happened to that girl you couldn’t stop talking about over break?”

“Cho and I went on a date and it ended very badly. That’s how the student body found out I’m bi.”

“She outed you?” Remus was not a violent man, but he was ready to throw hands for his boy.

“I don’t think so. We were in a crowded coffee shop and a lot of people probably overheard us arguing.”

“I’m sorry about Cho. And about people forcibly outing you. But what on earth do you mean by ‘think’?”

"Well, we said we liked each other and he kissed me. And then we made plans to meet up in the same place tomorrow." 

"Sounds like you have a boyfriend." He patted Harry on the shoulder. "Now I have to be serious with you." 

"No, you're Remus." 

Remus chuckled and shook his head. This boy. "You're just like your father." 

"Which one?" 

"All three of us. But truly, Harry. You know to be careful right? Don't do anything you're not ready for, and don't try to pressure him into anything either. No means no, and it goes both ways. And when you are ready, remember to use protection. You can always ask me or Sirius for-" 

Harry's ears were bright red and he was hiding his face in his hands. "Remus, please stop talking." 

"It's important that you know how to be safe!" 

"I'm only fifteen!" 

"Exactly! Kids your age often start experimenting-" 

" _Please shut up_." 

"All right, all right," Remus gave in. "When do Sirius and I get to meet this handsome stranger?" 

"If you keep this up I'm going to make sure you never meet Justin." 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Justin...Finch-Fletchley?" Remus tried to picture what his former student would look like now. 

"Shit. I forgot you were our teacher." 

"I remember him being a nice boy." 

"I am going to walk out of this office right now." 

"Harry-" 

"What?"

"Love you." 

Harry mumbled a reply and closed the door. 

After a brief meeting with Dumbledore about what to do next, Remus returned home to the cottage. Sirius was just getting back from a night class. 

"I've got good news, bad news, and more good news." 

"Let's hear it." 

"Harry found Ravenclaw's diadem. And we destroyed it." 

"Thank the gods! No more horcruxes!" 

"That's the bad news. Dumbledore thinks Voldemort made his pet snake into another one." 

"You can do that with live animals?" 

"It's not advised but it is theoretically possible." 

Sirius sank onto the couch. "How? Nevermind. What's the other good news?" 

"Do you remember a Hufflepuff boy in Harry's year named Justin Finch-Fletchley?" 

"Nice, a bit pompous, got petrified by the basilisk?" 

"That's the one." 

"What about him?" 

"He's Harry's new boyfriend." 

" _What_?"

Remus had to talk Sirius out of breaking into Hogwarts to go have a stern parent talk with Justin. Harry wouldn’t thank them for interfering. Besides, parents’ access to Hogwarts was severely limited by Umbridge. Remus had only been able to go deal with the horcrux through the use of an illicit portkey. Instead, Sirius had to content himself with the story of Remus’ attempts to give Harry ‘the talk.’


	8. Eight

Harry met Justin in secret a few more times before he told his friends about their relationship. It wasn’t that he thought his friends would disapprove, just that having a normal secret was a bit of a novelty. They continued to meet in the storage room they'd found, since nobody else seemed to know it was there. 

"I wish I could take you somewhere nicer," Justin mused. The broken couch on which they sat had strange bite marks on it. "Mum would have a fit if she knew how ungentlemanly I was acting in taking you to a dump." 

Harry put his head on Justin's shoulder and snuggled a little closer. "I'm happy anywhere as long as we're together." 

That earned him a quick kiss. "Be that as it may, we need a location that's more fitting for a date." 

The words had barely been said when the room changed before their eyes. 

Shelves of junk melted into the floor. The walls painted themselves with murals depicting a 360° view of a sunny forest clearing. Harry gasped as their broken couch became a park bench. Even the lighting changed to suit the change in scenery.

"How did you do that?" 

"I'm not sure. But this is much better, no?" 

"The bench could be comfier," Harry admitted. 

The bench immediately became a cushioned porch swing suspended from the ceiling.

"Better?" 

Harry nodded. He had no idea what was going on, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. 

The time for secrets came abruptly to an end, however, when Hermione and Dudley cornered the two of them after a DA meeting a few weeks later. Or, rather, Hermione cornered them and Dudley stood behind her looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Are you two dating?" 

"I-uh-we," Justin spluttered. 

"It's ok," Harry told him, taking his boyfriend's hand. "How'd you figure it out?" 

"You're always missing from the common room at weird times, Harry. And Dudley says Justin's missing from Hufflepuff at the same times. Right Dudley?" 

Dudley jumped and, after a moment, nodded guiltily. 

"You figured it out from just that?" Justin sounded incredulous.

"No. You both seemed a bit happier as of late, which is weird considering Umbridge's reign of terror. And Harry gravitates toward you during every DA meeting. I'm amazed nobody else has noticed. It's fairly obvious." 

"I should've known you'd find us out eventually, Hermione. But why the confrontation?" 

"You know how she is," Dudley interjected. "Won't rest until she's proved she's right about something." 

Hermione blushed. "You make me sound so cold! I was actually concerned that if you were hiding it it meant something was wrong. That either you didn't trust us to know or you weren't being treated right--by the way, Justin, if you ever hurt my friend--" 

"It's ok, Hermione," Harry cut her off mid-threat. Justin looked a bit scared. "Justin's just not out to many people and I didn't want him to end up the talk of the school." 

"That makes sense. I'm sorry for being nosy." 

"It's alright. I'm glad Harry has friends that are close enough to be so nosy." 

With the cat out of the bag, Harry and Justin decided to tell the rest of their close friends. Nobody appeared surprised by the revelation, lending credence to Hermione’s assertion that they were being obvious about it. Harry was surprised how relieved he felt that his friends were supportive. If they were comfortable around his openly gay dads and they were already vocally supportive of his bisexuality, then of course they’d support him and Justin. But he was relieved nevertheless. 

_Unfortunately_ , his new relationship came up at his next occlumency lesson. There were very few professors he would feel comfortable knowing that he’d kissed a boy--and that very short list dropped to zero when it meant the information would be revealed via mind-reading. Snape was definitely not on the list. But there Harry sat, helpless to stop his old enemy from watching the memory of his and Justin’s first kiss. 

He tried to block Snape, and even made the most progress he’d ever accomplished in the lessons, but it wasn’t enough. Snape was not sympathetic.


	9. Nine

Remus was the first to admit that he and Sirius’ involvement in Harry’s education had, in previous years, been much stronger than most Hogwarts parents. In fact, he often reminded himself of the mothers who’d annoyed him so much when he taught at a muggle primary school. But they’d always had good reason, and Umbridge was proof. He wanted so badly to unleash his inner primary school mum on her, but he knew it wouldn’t stop her from terrorizing Harry and his classmates. 

And it only got worse. Matters came to a head maybe a month after they destroyed the diadem. Umbridge discovered Harry's secret defense club--how she got into the chamber of secrets was anyone's guess--and the only thing that saved him from expulsion was Dumbledore taking responsibility. 

Now that Dumbledore was gone, though, Umbridge had free reign at Hogwarts. Letters from Harry and Draco had long since ceased, so Remus and Sirius had to rely on the educational decrees to figure out what was going on. And the picture they painted was ugly indeed. 

"At least they're still getting a decent education from their other teachers," Sirius mused one night. 

"Who knows how long _that_ will last, though. I'm sure she'll target the wider curriculum next." 

Though worrying about the boys occupied a large portion of Remus' mind at all times, he had other responsibilities to keep track of. There was the ever-present horcrux problem, of course, but it was mainly on the back burner for now since he had no clue how to get close enough to Voldemort's pet snake to kill it. Then he had Order business to attend to, meetings and guard duty mostly. He quite liked guard duty, despite the long nights, because it gave him time to think. 

But Remus' most important duty these days, to his mind, was supporting Sirius through law school. Sirius had been in charge of most of the domestic chores for fourteen years, but with so much of his time being dedicated to classes and homework he didn't have time to cook dinner every night. Remus gladly took over. He loved taking care of Sirius for a change. 

The first few meals were a bit rough, but after consulting Sirius' cookbooks, and some practice with timing, things eventually smoothed out. Most of it came down to knowing what to start when, after all. 

Before Remus knew it, June was upon them. He wished he could get a message to the boys, just a few words of encouragement for their OWLS, but he knew even such an innocent letter would never reach them under Umbridge's watch. Hopefully their exams would go smoothly and then they'd be back for the summer. 

Then all hell broke loose. Kingsley got a message to the Order that McGonagall was in St. Mungo's, and Hagrid was on the run, after an altercation with Umbridge and four aurors who'd attempted to remove Hagrid in the middle of the night. It was an ill omen. Remus hoped nothing worse would happen until the end of the boys' exams. It was not to be. 

"What that fuck do you mean Harry collapsed in an exam, got tortured by Umbridge, and is now headed to the department of mysteries?" Sirius roared at Snape. They were all standing in the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld Place. Regulus stood to the side looking worried.

"I mean precisely that. The boy apparently fell asleep and dreamed that the Dark Lord captured Regulus and was torturing him in the department of mysteries." 

"And he didn't check to see if it was real first?" Remus asked, afraid of the answer.

"That is how the headmistress caught him. He was attempting to use her fireplace to floo call this very kitchen. He and his friends managed to escape from her and took off before I could stop them." 

Remus inwardly cursed James' genes. Of course Harry wanted to save his uncle. The problem was his uncle was safe at home. 

"We'd better go, then," Regulus said. "Harry's walking straight into a trap." 

"You're not going anywhere," Sirius growled.

"Excuse me?"

"Someone needs to stay here to contact the rest of the Order. And you're not supposed to leave headquarters anyway, what with being in hiding." 

"Snape can stay here. It would blow his cover to fight the death eaters. _I'm_ going to help save my nephew and damn the consequences!" 

"But-"

"Pads, we don't have time for this. Regulus is a grown man, he can make his own choices." 

The kids were in rough shape when Remus, Sirius, Regulus, and the Order arrived. Harry's friends were scattered across the department's various rooms. They had obviously put up a valiant fight against the death eaters, but now they were losing. Remus led the charge as the Order took over. 

In retrospect, it was probably the element of surprise that carried them to some kind of victory. The death eaters clearly hadn't expected to fight reinforcements. While fighting them wasn’t easy, the tide of the battle quickly turned. By the time Dumbledore arrived, the situation was mostly in hand. There was just one problem: Bellatrix Lestrange. 

Remus watched helplessly from his own duel as she fought Sirius, Regulus, and Harry all at once. His heart jumped into his throat as a killing curse just missed Sirius by a hair. A stunner passed by Remus’ nose and he had to return all his attention to his opponent. 

By the time he’d won his duel, Regulus was lying on the ground with Sirius bent over him. Harry and Bellatrix were nowhere to be found. Remus dashed over. Regulus, it appeared, had been hit with a stunning spell and Sirius was trying to revive him. 

“Where’s Harry?”

Sirius pointed up, across the stepped dais, toward the entrance. Both his hand and his voice shook. “He chased after Bellatrix.”

Remus caught up to them in the atrium several floors above the department of mysteries. Bellatrix was clearly toying with Harry, allowing him to tire himself out trying to attack her. Immediately, instinctively, Remus readied himself to fight. 

But before he could do much more than step in front of Harry, he became aware of another presence in the room. 

“Master!” Bellatrix cried in equal delight and fear. 

Oh no. Oh gods, please no. Remus turned to see none other than Voldemort striding towards them, wand drawn. At least, he thought, if he had to go down fighting it would be to protect his son. 

But then, as he readied himself for what would likely be the last spell he would ever cast, Dumbledore appeared. And now Remus saw, for the first time, why they said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort ever feared. The two wizards were evenly matched, neither able to gain an advantage over the other. 

The snake draped around Voldemort’s shoulders caught Remus’ attention. The last horcrux was so close. But how to get at it without drawing fire? He never got the chance. 

He realized afterward that his distracted state must’ve been obvious, because Voldemort suddenly broke from the duel and sent a killing curse straight at him. The only reason he didn’t die that night was because Harry dove at Remus, knocking him out of the way. The curse hit Harry--young, beautiful, stupidly brave Harry--square in the chest.


	10. Ten

Harry wasn’t sure where he was, exactly, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been there before. He couldn’t say why, though. Everything around him was white: the walls, the floor, even the sky. 

Everything except the person standing in front of him, who also looked strangely familiar. He wore tattered muggle clothes and cracked round glasses. His skin was a warm brown, his black hair extremely messy, and his eyes an emerald green. Harry guessed he was about eighteen.

“Who are you?” 

“I’m Harry Potter.” 

“You can’t be, _I’m_ Harry Potter.” 

He sighed. “Let me explain. I’m a different version of you. The one who wasn’t raised by Sirius and Remus. In my timeline, this doesn’t happen until I’m almost eighteen.” 

“Then who raised you? And what’s ‘this’ exactly?” 

“I was raised by my mother’s sister and her muggle family. They tried to prevent me from learning that I was a wizard or what to do with my powers, but when I was eleven Hagrid came and introduced me to Hogwarts anyway. And ‘this’ is harder to explain. You know about horcruxes, yeah?” 

Harry nodded. 

“Good. Well, not good, but you know. Anyway, you’re an accidental horcrux. That’s how you can know what Voldemort is thinking and how you can talk to snakes. Or rather, you were an accidental horcrux until about five seconds ago when you forced Voldemort to destroy the piece of his soul that’s inside of you by sacrificing yourself to save Remus.” 

“ _What_?” 

The other Harry put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Yeah, it’s a lot to take in. Dumbledore could probably explain it better. He’s still alive in your world, right? But basically, you’re not dead. Unless you want to move on to the next life, but I doubt it somehow. That curse that hit you killed the horcrux inside of you instead of you.” 

“Wait, so Dumbledore knew all along that I was a horcrux?” 

“Pretty much. I’m not sure what he had planned for you, but he was basically raising me to die at the right moment so someone else would be able to kill Voldemort.” 

“That’s fucked up.” 

“You’re telling me.” 

Harry had so many other questions for this other self--why hadn’t Sirius and Remus raised him, for example--but the vision faded. He found himself lying on the floor of the atrium. Someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes. 

“He’s alive!” 

“Are you okay, Harry?” 

He sat up. There were a lot of people milling around, but he focused on Sirius and Remus, who were kneeling on either side of him. 

“Did you catch Voldemort?” 

Sirius looked grave. “He collapsed when the curse hit you but Bellatrix grabbed him and escaped into a floo while we were all busy making sure you were okay.” 

"He collapsed too?" 

"Yes. We're not sure why." 

"I bet Dumbledore knows," Harry said under his breath. 

Dumbledore was busy with the minister, who'd apparently showed up just as Bellatrix was making her escape. He took a second to send Harry and his parents to his office at Hogwarts, promising to meet them there shortly to discuss what had transpired. 

Harry caught them up while they waited. Remus went pale and had to sit down when Harry explained that he had been a horcrux. 

"Here I was chipping away at all those horcruxes, and I didn't realize . . . I was chipping away at _your_ lifespan. Can you ever forgive me, Harry?" 

Harry hugged him. "You didn't know, Moony. And I'm here, alive." 

Sirius had some questions, too. "What were we doing, in that other timeline, if we allowed Petunia and Vernon to raise you?" 

"He didn't say. But you must've been in that other Harry's life at some point, based on the way he said your names. I'm glad you raised _me_ , though." 

The meeting with Dumbledore did not go well. Remus rarely shouted around Harry, but he really let the old man have a piece of his mind. As did Sirius. 

Once they'd gotten the shouting out of their systems, Dumbledore had some explaining to do. He described the horcrux thing a lot better than Harry's alternate self, though it made everything a hundred times worse to hear exactly what he'd planned for Harry from his own lips. And then there was the prophecy. 

"Neither can live while the other survives? That sounds an awful lot like Harry's gonna have to face Voldemort," Sirius said slowly. 

"That is my current theory, yes." 

"We won't allow it," Remus decided. "There's a reason prophecies aren't carved into stone tablets. They aren't fate. They can be changed or avoided." 

Dumbledore was silent. Harry didn't like how he sat there with an inscrutable expression on his wisened face.


	11. Eleven

Remus knew it was his plan, but when it came down to it he really hated the plan. Especially the part that involved sending Draco into the lions' den. 

"It's not too late to back out. You can still come home with us and we'll think of something else," he told his son. 

"It is too late. I've already written mother. She's planning to pick me up at King's Cross tomorrow. Besides, it's best to act while we have the advantage, right?" 

Remus sighed. Draco talking like a soldier worried him. "You're right. I may not like it, but you're right."

"Remember the plan?" Sirius asked.

"Go 'home', pretend to reconcile with mother, learn as much as I can about what's going on, pass information to Snape. When he gives me the signal, kill the snake." 

"And then get out of there. Do _not_ stick around for the fight, you hear me?" 

Draco nodded. "I'll miss you all." 

"If we're lucky we'll all be back together in a month," Remus reminded him. 

"It'll be the longest month of my life." Draco gave each of them a hug. Although he would likely see Harry again before they left, part of the plan hinged on the public falling out they'd staged earlier that day so this was goodbye for them as well. Remus hadn't seen the fight, but by all accounts it hadn't been pretty. 

The next month was basically one long anxiety attack for Remus. He spent every spare minute worrying about Draco alone in Malfoy Manor with all those death eaters. Was he okay? Did they suspect he wasn't one of them? Would he be able to get close enough to the snake to destroy the last horcrux? He and Sirius cornered Snape after every Order meeting to press him for information on their son. 

Snape's updates usually consisted of "He is doing well," and not much else. It was infuriating. 

And there was Harry to worry about, too. He wasn't very good at concealing how much Draco's absence affected him. Most of his time was spent alone in his room, presumably reading or moping. He cheered up a smidge when they moved to headquarters about a week before the proposed date for the attack, but Remus worried nevertheless. 

At least planning their siege of Malfoy Manor provided a distraction. Snape had told the Order that the death eaters were using it as a headquarters as payment for Lucius' failure at the department of mysteries. The Order hoped to ambush them there once Draco'd eliminated Voldemort's last shield against mortality. 

The Order, that is, except for Dumbledore. Oh he outwardly supported the plan in meetings, but Remus knew he wasn't happy about it. He, Sirius, and McGonagall--once she'd been informed of Dumbledore's secret plans for Harry--had shouted the old man into line. They were no longer willing to let him play chess with their lives. 

They left Fred and George in charge of the kids. While the twins were fully fledged Order members, now, everyone agreed they were a bit young for something like this. The twins were not happy to be left out of the assault on Malfoy Manor, but after minimal shouting they accepted their lot. 

Snape's signal came at exactly the appointed time. Remus had just enough time to say a quick "goodbye" to Harry before he and the rest of the Order disapparated. He hoped Draco had made it out okay.


	12. Twelve

Draco came stumbling out of the fireplace at Number Twelve about five minutes after the Order left. His robes were torn and there was a wild look on his face. The sight reminded Harry of his appearance at the Burrow three years earlier. 

"Well?" Harry demanded as he jumped up to help his brother. 

"The snake is d-dead," Draco confirmed. He sank into the chair Harry pushed in his direction. 

Everyone sighed in relief. The success of their parents all hinged on Draco's ability to destroy the horcrux. 

Their relief ebbed, though, as time dragged on. Waiting was torture. Who was winning? Were their parents still alive? 

Finally, Harry couldn't take it anymore. 

"I'm going to help the Order," he proclaimed, daring the twins to stop him as he edged toward the floo powder. 

Fred and George made no attempt to stop him. In fact, they lined up behind him. The rest of his friends fell into step, too. Harry threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace and yelled “Malfoy Manor” before stepping into the flames. 

The scene before him was chaos. Stray spells shot from at least a dozen separate duels. A wizard went down in Harry’s path as he stepped out of the fire. He was glad to see it wasn’t anyone from the Order. 

Nobody paid Harry any attention as he picked his way through the grand house, looking for his parents. They were all too busy with their own problems. He might as well have been wearing his invisibility cloak. 

It was hard to tell which side was winning from the glimpses he caught of individual duels. Here and there he had to step over bodies, and most of them were death eaters, but occasionally he recognized a face. He hoped they were all stunned rather than dead. 

Finally, in what appeared to be a stately dining room, Harry found them. Sirius, who had a large gash on his face, sat under the table, supporting a barely-conscious Remus. 

“Harry! What the fuck are you doing here?” Sirius barked when he caught sight of him. 

Harry ran over to them and ducked under the table to take Remus’ hand. “Is Remus okay?” 

“Harry?” Remus gasped out. “You should be at home.” 

“What happened to him?” 

“He lost a duel to Voldemort. The only reason he’s still alive is because Kinglsey took over before the final blow. Now get out of here!” 

Harry's vision went red. It wasn’t enough that Voldemort had taken his biological parents from him, now he’d nearly taken Remus too? He was going to pay for this. 

He extracted himself from the table legs and drew his wand. Ignoring Sirius’ repeated pleas for him to go home, Harry strode back out into the halls of Malfoy Manor. 

Around him, Order members and kids alike fought the death eaters. But Harry tuned out all of it, searching. 

It didn’t take long to find his quarry. Voldemort stood at the centre of the fighting. He looked almost bored as he fought Kingsley, McGonagall, and Mad-Eye all at once. 

“Oi! Riddle! Come fight me yourself, coward!” Harry called. 

Voldemort looked up and smiled like a snake. He blasted his opponents back with a violent swipe of his wand and strode over to Harry. “Come to play with the adults, little Potter?” 

“I’m here to end this,” Harry said defiantly, though he realized his bravado was fading in the face of his biggest enemy. 

“As you wish.” 

Echoing their meeting in the graveyard, Voldemort insisted on bowing in a mockery of formal dueling etiquette. Harry refused to bow to his enemy, preferring to take the time to gather his wits. Why was he doing something so stupid, again? The sight of Sirius and Remus huddled under the Malfoy’s table swam in front of his eyes again. Oh yes. For his family.

Voldemort straightened. “And now, we begin!” 

They threw hexes at each other, all of which missed by inches. Harry got the impression that Voldemort was toying with him. Several times, an Order member rushed to his aid, only to be blasted back. 

Harry tired quickly. He didn’t know how long he could keep this up. His heart beat uncomfortably loud in his chest and his muscles strained with every movement.

“Enough playing, little Potter. Time for the boy who lived to die at last.” 

Harry knew what was coming before Voldemort even began forming the words for the killing curse. Instinctively, he echoed his own actions from the graveyard, too. He yelled “expelliarmus!” at the same time that Voldemort cried “avada kedavra!”

He felt like he was experiencing deja vu. The spells met in midair, connecting the two phoenix feather wands again. Harry held on for dear life, his tired body protesting. This was his only chance. He pushed Voldemort’s spell back towards him, and the bead of light forced itself into his wand once more. 

There was an explosion of light, and Voldemort fell to the floor like a ragdoll. Harry sank to his knees, too tired to stand. Everything ground to a halt around him. A masked and hooded death eater ran over to Voldemort’s prone form. 

“Master?” They shook him. Nothing happened. 

Mad-Eye Moody approached. The death eater was too busy panicking to notice. He waved his wand over the body. 

“Dead,” the wisened auror pronounced. 

Pandemonium ensued. The emboldened Order busied themselves with subduing the death eaters. Harry stayed frozen on the floor, until Regulus appeared at his side. 

“Harry, have you seen my brother?” 

Harry nodded mutely. 

“Where is he?” 

Regulus helped Harry to his feet and they stumbled over to where he’d last seen his parents. They were still there, exactly as Harry'd left them except that Remus was no longer conscious. Sirius appeared totally unaware of what had just transpired. Harry described his duel with Voldemort to a horrified Sirius as the three of them transported Remus to the floo so they could get him medical attention.


	13. Thirteen

Remus was getting really tired of waking up in hospital beds. 

“Sirius, Harry, Regulus, he’s awake!” Draco’s voice called. 

He sat up and discovered he was in a private room in St. Mungo’s. His family sat around him. “Did we win?” 

“Yes, we won,” Sirius said, taking his hand. “And Harry is grounded for the rest of eternity.” 

“What did he do?” Remus thought hard. He thought he remembered seeing Harry at Malfoy Manor, but that must’ve been a hallucination. 

“He killed Voldemort.” 

Remus fainted. 

When he came to, again, a worried-looking Harry told him the whole story. He was going to have words with Fred and George about their babysitting style when he got out of here. 

“So the war, it’s-”

“Over,” Sirius confirmed. “With Voldemort dead, the death eaters surrendered quickly.” 

“Harry, I’m proud of you. But please _never_ do something that _stupid_ again.” 

It took a few days for Remus to be well enough for the healers to discharge him. Whatever spell he’d been hit with had been pretty serious. Coming home to Sirius, Harry, and Draco was the best thing he’d ever experienced. He felt lighter than air. Two decades of constant fear and worry evaporating overnight tends to do that to a person. 

They celebrated by lifting the fidelius charm from the cottage. It was unnecessary now. Nobody was after Harry anymore, except maybe the magical paparazzi. After a brief convalescence, Remus felt okay hosting their friends at their little home for the first time. 

Harry’s birthday party that year was the long-overdue giant slumber party he’d wanted for his entire childhood. Fitting that many teenagers into the cottage overnight took some doing, but somehow they managed. It was raucous, messy, and filled with drama, exactly as a normal teen’s birthday should be. Though of course Remus wasn’t truly appreciative of that fact until after he’d made Harry and Draco clean everything up the next morning. 

About three weeks before the beginning of term, Remus told the boys the good news. 

"I'll be coming with you to Hogwarts!" 

"Really?" 

"You will?" 

"Yes. I'll be taking the vacant defense post." 

"What about Sirius?" 

"He's coming, too. Married professors are allowed to have their spouses on campus, after all." 

"But you're not married yet!" 

"We will be by the time term starts." 

It was a small ceremony. They held it in the Weasley's back garden. Harry stood up as Sirius' best man, while Draco did the same for Remus. They both looked a little ridiculous in dress robes, as all teenage wizards did, but the sight made Remus a little teary all the same. 

Afterwards, they had a little party with their friends and family under the stars. Remus tried to remember that he couldn't just dance with Sirius all night--they had well wishers to talk to--but all he really wanted to do was hold his husband close for the rest of eternity. 

The honeymoon was, by necessity, short since September first was hurtling towards them at an alarming rate. Remus couldn't remember such a relaxing handful of days, though, despite missing their boys terribly the whole time. 

They arrived home a few days before term and got to work packing up the cottage for their move to Hogwarts. They wouldn't see the place until winter break, so the hatches had to be battened down. It was a struggle to get everything ready in time for the boys to get on the school train, but they managed it somehow. 

Harry and Draco came to see him and Sirius in their flat after the start of term feast. Remus handed them each a roll of parchment. 

"What are these?" 

"A little something to celebrate the new school year. Go on, open them." 

The boys unrolled the parchments, revealing some official looking documents. 

Draco's eyes were the size of galleons. "Adoption papers?" 

Remus nodded. "With your mother and father in Azkaban for life, you're technically a ward of the ministry until you come of age. Which means Sirius and I can adopt you, if you'd like. You're already family, of course, but this would make it formal." 

"Where do I sign?" 

Sirius, being the legal expert, showed Draco how to fill out his part of the form. Remus felt a rush of pride when Draco insisted on changing his last name to Lupin-Black. He honestly hadn't expected him to. 

"Why do I have papers, though?" Harry asked when he got a chance. "I thought you adopted me when I was two." 

" _I_ adopted you when you were two. But Moony didn't get to because the laws were different back then." 

Harry nodded and dutifully filled out the form, which would amend his original adoption papers. Then he paused. "Will you be mad if I keep 'Potter'?" 

"Of course not," Remus said. "We kept it for you when you were little so you could make that choice on your own." 

"Okay." He looked relieved as he handed back the parchment. 

Sirius pulled them all into a group hug. "Here's to the Lupin-Black/Potter family!" 

"You're squishing me!" Harry protested weakly, though he sounded amused. 

"I don't feel any different," Draco said. 

"That's because all those papers do is put it in writing. We've been a family for a while, now, even if it's all newly recognized." 

"I'm glad you're my family." 

"We are too, kiddo."


	14. Epilogue

Remus Lupin-Black had a secret. 

This was, strictly speaking, nothing new. But unlike so many of the secrets he'd held in his life, this was a good one. And he wanted to share it so badly he thought he would burst. 

He sat in the throne-like chair at the head of the staff table, waiting for the students to take their seats. A few glanced his way with raised eyebrows, but not many noticed the unusual seating arrangements. He supposed he was not the most interesting of the people seated at the staff table, and most students were too busy catching up with friends to bother inspecting the faculty at all. His grandchildren, however, appeared to be studiously avoiding his gaze. 

Once the new cohort of wide-eyed eleven year olds had been sorted into houses, Remus stood. He allowed the wave of whispering to continue for perhaps ten seconds before speaking. 

“To our new students, welcome. To our returning students, welcome back.” He mentally cringed at the accidental Dumbledore quote, though it was an apt greeting. “Before we get to feasting, I have but a few announcements. The first is that a number of staffing changes occurred over the summer. 

“Two pillars of the Hogwarts community have decided to retire. Rubeus Hagrid is stepping down as care of magical creatures teacher, to be replaced by Charlie Weasley. Hagrid will remain in his cottage on the Hogwarts grounds, however, and invites any student to visit if they are ever in need of a cup of tea or a kind ear. 

“I must also announce that our esteemed former headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, has stepped down to spend a happy retirement with her wife. Professor McGonagall taught transfiguration at Hogwarts for many years before spending twenty years as our headmistress. Her leadership will be missed. I can only hope that you all will bear with me as I endeavour to fill her position.” 

A burst of applause startled Remus into silence. He shot a look down the table to the probable source, but as the entire room was clapping there was no way to confirm his suspicions. 

Once the great hall was silent once more, Remus continued on. “Meanwhile, it is my pleasure to announce that my old post as defense against the dark arts professor will be filled by my son, Harry Potter.” 

The great hall erupted again, though this time Remus was sure of who started the clapping. (It was him.) The students gave Harry a standing ovation. Remus could barely contain the pride he felt. 

“And now, I am sure you are all anxious to get on with the feast!” 

Dishes of every kind filled the empty golden plates and everyone’s attention turned to their dinners. Remus surveyed the hall as he dug into his own plate of roast chicken. If only he’d known, back when he was that young, that he would one day be sitting in Dumbledore’s chair. Of course he probably wouldn’t have believed it then. He wasn’t sure he fully believed it now. 

Though it was late and classes began the next morning, Remus invited Harry to his office for a nightcap. Remus went on ahead--Harry wanted a word with his kids first--and found Sirius sitting on his desk. He was watching the portraits of McGonagall and Dumbledore bicker on the wall. 

“Took you long enough.” 

“Quit your pouting,” Remus laughed. “You should know how long the start of term feast takes by now.” 

“The waiting never gets any easier.” 

“Well I’m here now.” 

Remus _meant_ to give Sirius a quick kiss, but his husband had other ideas. 

“Hey! Harry will be here in a minute, and he doesn’t want to catch his middle-aged dads making out like teenagers!” He protested when they came up for air. Sirius just laughed and pulled him in for another kiss.

They broke apart when a polite knock came at the door. Remus straightened his tie the best he could and let Harry in. He was unsurprised and delighted to see Neville standing in the doorway as well. 

“Congratulations on your promotion, Remus,” Neville said. “But why did no one tell me Minerva was retiring?” 

“You know how she is. She didn’t want any fuss. Remember the media storm when Dumbledore retired back in 1997?” 

“Is that Professor Longbottom I hear?” Sirius piped up from behind him. 

“Hiya, Sirius. How’s the law practice?” 

“Every case still pro bono, I’m afraid,” Sirius grinned. “My parents would be horrified!” 

Harry and Neville laughed. Remus smiled to himself as he conjured four glasses and poured a healthy measure of mead into each. Even in his late fifties, Sirius was still such a drama queen. And Remus wouldn't have him any other way.

“Wish Draco was here to see you as headmaster,” Harry remarked, taking a glass. 

“I had to convince him not to come, actually. Broadway needs its star much more than he needs to watch his old man change chairs. We can have a belated celebration when the _Fountain of Fair Fortune_ tour comes to the West End next year.” 

“Actually, you might see him sooner than that,” Sirius said with a grin that could only be described as ‘evil’. “After all, he can’t get out of coming to the wedding.”

“Wedding?” 

Neville blushed. Harry coughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. 

“You’re engaged already?” 

Harry nodded warily. Remus’ heart soared. He’d had high hopes when the two childhood friends got together over the summer, especially since it was shaping up to be the first healthy relationship of Harry’s since his messy divorce from Ginny a few years ago. Neville was good for Harry. 

“Even more cause for celebration!” 

Remus raised his glass and the others did the same. “To beginnings. And to family, new and old!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this series over a year ago, I promised myself that I wouldn't give up halfway through because I'd seen that happen too many times. And then JKR outed herself as blatantly transphobic when I was part of the way through posting Growing Pains and drafting this last work. As much as I wanted to just stop posting anything Potter-related, I also wanted to keep my promise. And I'm glad that I did because it means I get to give a proper send off to these characters who meant so much to me as a kid. I wrote them an ending I feel okay walking away from. Thanks for reading!


End file.
